February 28, 2015

I like estate sales. I find cool things there sometimes. I went to one in my neighborhood yesterday and came away with some interesting things. Even vintage art supplies (I found boxes of vine charcoal at one sale at another time)

Once in a while I find art work that I like enough to bring home like this watercolor of a jazz musician. I want to put it on a neutral mat to make the colors pop and have it framed.

I also found a very cool brass lamp at a decent price. I could use it in a lot of spots in the house.

I can see some of these ornaments attached to a metal, fabric or paper journal. Some could be worked into an interesting necklace. So when you're out and about, try looking at them differently.

February 04, 2015

I recently took an online class, by Jodi Ohl, called "Funky Little City Scapes." It was great fun and well suited me as it builds your piece layer by layer and that's how I like to work a lot. Jodi's work is vibrant and appeals to me a lot, in fact, I have two of her paintings that I got from her at Art Is You in Stamford, CT, but I digress.

For some reason, I had the urge to use colors that I see every day on my walks with Fergus the Wonder Scottie. Normally, that would be fine, but this time of year, mid-winter, it's not exactly the most colorful uplifting palette I've ever seen. But, I decided to follow the fickle muse of painting by collecting about 4 leaves and a blue-gray granite rock that is common here. I took note of tree trunk, sky, grass and even the road colors.

Once home and looking at my collection, I selected three main colors to start with...a light gray, a light bluish gray and a brown...all craft paints. Then I remembered something I learned somewhere (and sorry I can't credit where) about using primary colors to with a few other colors to create your entire painting. I was amazed at the colors I could obtain with very little of the primaries added and they all worked together as the base colors were a common "theme."

The first three were my starting point and the next three were what I used to do the majority of the painting. That green gold by Golden (the bottom facing out) was used very sparingly on the trees. Black and white paint were used to broaden the palette by additions to the mixes too.

After blocking in the houses, adding sheer layers of color, then black and white dip pen details, I finished.

These colors were way outside my usual but they felt "right" right now and I found I could work with something different and still like it. I added snow to the picture which is also very uncharacteristic of me, but it didn't make me feel cold or like I wanted to crawl in a cave somewhere! In fact, I think I could look at this one all year and not have a problem with it. Go figure.

November 06, 2014

I don't remember where I got this little doll body...probably in some box from an estate sale and it had no arms or legs but in good shape otherwise. It's been sitting around for a bit and I ran across it the other day. So, I started thinking about making some arms and legs for it.

Using a bag of glass beads that I got when registering at Art & Soul Virginia, some wire and a few other beads, the doll regained appendages. I took some brass filigree wings that I got from a dealer on ETSY and they were just the right size! Boom. Now she's an angel. Okay, halo time.

More wire and some beads and we have a halo. Krazy Glue applied and everything held. *whew* I think E6000 would have been better but was out and my Bond 527 was hard as a brick. Anyway, I think she turned out pretty cute.

August 27, 2014

I decided to embed some stones in the heart when casting this one. I was a bit disappointed when I first unmolded it. I decided to give it time and work on other things. Then one day, I thought some flowers and vines may be nice so I started to paint.

Then another idea began to form.

I darkened between the vines, highlighted the now "eggs".

So the concrete heart with rocks became a nest with eggs. :D Who knew? Only the rocky heart knew and had to tell me.

August 04, 2014

The above had a sage green background and a few other details. The faces looked flat. But not in a cool, folk-artsy flat way. So it sat for a year or better. I took an online class from Karen Milstein about faces (I think maybe particularly eyes) and that helped me work out some issues I had. Some stencils on the background, shading, highlights and so on

finally finshed this one for me.

The one below is a bit trickier. There was nothing really wrong with it except I took it too far and it was too dark and too busy. An earlier version was better.

So once again, I changed the colors completely and had a re-do. This one felt more like what I wanted at that point. If I painted it today, I'd probably come up with something again totally different. The vagaries of being an artist can be trying.

July 30, 2014

I had a collage that I did about a year ago and never finished. It just sat there. I liked parts of it. A lot. But it just, well, sat there.

So, recently I decided it was a waste to have a canvas sit there. I looked through the photos I've been taking around the neighborhood on my walks, chose some pieces and parts that may work, printed them out and started working. I sketched a rough idea out. It has "cow itch" (Campsis radicans) from a neighbor's mail box, black-eyed susans from another's garden, and petunia greenery and pitcher from another neighbor's yard.

You can see above how I started pushing back some of the parts I wanted gone with some white paint. It helped me focus on what parts would next work or need to be eliminated. That part wasn't easy. There were neat images in there, but honestly had to go if I was to move on,. Wow, sounds like a metaphor for life, doesn't it?

Lots of sheer layers of paint...some of it dry-brushed, some of it glazed and changed the tone and hue of different parts until I got it balanced. I like it now and will paint the sides and it will be ready for varnishing. I find it helpful to see how others evolve pieces and know how their pieces come together. I hope that this helped you or that you found it interesting.

March 10, 2014

Am I the only one who feels like this has been a really long winter? A few months ago, I decided to host a swap to get myself creating again so I decided on altered eggs. Not really Easter eggs, as much as I love Easter, but eggs that could be kept out all year and made by art friends. I tried painting one or two, but it didn't thrill me. I started off with wooden eggs. Then I decided to try some papier mache eggs. What to do with them though?

One day I was playing with Dylusions sprays and the overspray on some paper towels caught my eye. My friend Mary Haldeman uses paper towels and other papers that she dyes and later uses in her art work. Hmmm. So I added to the colors on the towels and let them dry. I rubbed some metallic paint across the top texture with my finger tip. I let that dry. I peeled the two layers apart and was amazed at the rich colors and patterns. So I pulled off pieces of the papers and glued them all over the eggs. The colors were SO bright that they were almost intimidating so I took some white, silver, gold and bronze and dry-brushed the eggs. I liked the soft, yet still rich, colors I ended up with.

I told the other players not to over-think the swap and just have fun...don't get hung up in tons of detail or making this too hard. After all, they will be best put all together and sometimes, less can be more. I decided to add just a band of blingy ribbon around the eggs' middles.

Also, each person's egg will have an initial metal piece attached (either first or last initial of their name depending on what I have) to finish them off. I also have a surprise that I've made for each player but can't show them at this time because the swap isn't over yet! :)